Odia actress Manimala Devi passes away aged 90

Veteran Odia actress and theatre personality Manimala Devi Passed away at a private hospital in Bhubaneshwar on Thursday, June 16. She was 90 years old. She was admitted to the hospital due to age-related complications.

The yesteryear actress was suffering from chest congestion before her death, her son Shankar Ghosh said. Her health condition had been serious for the last few months and had to be admitted in hospital for at least four times this month. On Wednesday morning her condition became critical and she was admitted to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and was put on ventilator.

Odisha Chief Minister Navin Patnaik in his condolence message said, “Her demise is a great loss for the cultural fraternity of Odisha." The CM had earlier embarrassed himself when he condoled the veteran artiste’s demise on Wednesday night when she was put on ventilator. As soon as the CM realised his blunder, he deleted his message from Twitter.

A host of other ministers and people also paid tribute to the yesteryear actress who ruled the Odia film industry during the 1960s. State BJP President Basant Panda said, "Her death created a vacuum in the field of films and theatre in the state." Veteran actor Bijay Mohanty said, "With her death an era of Odia cinema came to an end."

Manimala Devi made her debut with the film 'Sri Loknath' and has acted in 28 films of which 14 bagged the president's award including her debut film. Some of her popular films include 'Laxmi', 'Surya mukhi', 'Jeevan Sathi', 'Abhinetri', 'Malajanha', 'Klanta Aparanha', 'Nisidhha Swapna', 'Kichhi Smruti Kichhi Anubhuti' and 'Andha Diganta'.

She started her career at the age of nine from theatres and acted in over 100 plays. She has been awarded with the prestigious Jayadev award in 2000. Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi awarded her with life time achievement award for her contribution to art and culture in 1987.